Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) hit a nostalgic nerve May 21 when it posted a mini, playable Pac-Man in its logo spot, reminding people of the innocent days when video games were young. And that little trip down memory lane, in honor of Pac-Man's 30^th birthday, cost us 4.82 million hours in productivity, according to RescueTime, a time management software vendor.

RescueTime compared Google usage on May 21 to that on previous Fridays, concluding that the average user stayed on the site 36 seconds longer than usual because of the Pac-Man logo. In a blog post titled "The Tragic Cost of Google Pac-Man," RescueTime founder Tony Wright wrote that the fun and games cost businesses $120,483,800, if you assume Google users are paid $25 an hour on average.

"For that same cost, you could hire all 19,835 google employees, from Larry and Sergey down to their janitors, and get six weeks of their time," Wright wrote.

Then again, do a few moments of unplanned amusement in the midst of the workday really end up reducing productivity in the grand scheme of things? Or does an unexpected little distraction lift our spirits, clear our minds and spur us to get back to work with renewed vigor? For many of us, 36 extra seconds spent on Google's site on a Friday was probably time well spent. 

But making news for oneself by working the words "Tragic" and "Pac-Man" into the same blog post headline: That's priceless.

For more:
- see RescueTime blog post

Related Articles:

...

Tags:   productivity,benefits technology,cio,google,morale,hr technology,fierece,pac-man

SaaS Strategy: What The Top Brass Wants To Know InformationWeek It helped that one of Workday's founders, Dave Duffield, had founded HR software company PeopleSoft . John never made a SaaS presentation to the board. ... and more »

Tags:   west,talent management,ca3,hr,peoplesoft,hcm

ERP as a Service ERP Cloud News (blog) Examples like salesforce.com, Google Apps, Taleo , and Workday show how SaaS can be an advantageous model for some software categories while other categories ... and more »

Tags:   taleo tleo,talent management,hr,hcm

PLEASANTON, CA--(Marketwire - 04/28/10) - Workday, Inc., the leader in enterprise-class SaaS-based Human Resources (HR), Financial and Payroll solutions, today announced that Savvis, Inc. (NASDAQ: SVVS - News ), a global leader in cloud infrastructure and hosted IT solutions for enterprises, is live on Workday Human Capital Management (HCM). More than 2,200 Savvis employees and managers are ...

Tags:   talent management,hr,hcm

If you are looking for a new Talent Management System, or any HR system, talk to HRchitect first. We have unparalleled knowledge of the HR and Talent Management vendor community and can save you time and money in selection and ...

Tags:   talent management,hr,hcm

'I'm outta here!' Planning your post-workday world Pittsburg Morning Sun So, besides the dollars-and-cents part of retirement planning, it's important to have a plan that centers on the emotional transitions that retirement ...

Tags:   planning

The new healthcare law promises to extend coverage to millions of Americans and to cut costs by cultivating healthy habits and preventive care. But could its emphasis on wellness undermine putting an end to the practice of charging sick people more for health insurance? While advocates for people with chronic ailments said they welcome initiatives that enable employees to incorporate exercise or weight counseling into their workday, they warn that tying premium discounts to achieving certain health standards will inevitably shift costs to less healthy employees, the New York Times reports.

Tags:   health insurers,healthcare,health plans,healthleaders

Workday Human Resources Selected by Sun Life Financial Article Ant (press release) With over 14000 employees across more than 10 international locations including Bermuda, Canada , China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, ... and more »

Tags:   canada,talent management,hr,hcm

Workday 10 Boosts HR Capabilities InformationWeek The new features are said to unite in talent management and human capital management in one system. To parse these increasingly popular HR buzz phrases, ... and more »

Tags:   talent management,hr,hcm

PLEASANTON, CA--(Marketwire - March 23, 2010) - Workday now provides global organizations a single system of record for both Talent Management and core Human Capital Management with the delivery of Workday 10, available immediately. More than 130 ...

Tags:   talent management,hr,hcm

So folks have been talking about work/life balance lately. Kris thinks HR being responsible for work/life balance is an outright lie. Our pal Chris Ferdinandi at Renegade HR thinks it's absolutely something HR can influence. Me? I'm in the Jack...

Tags:   interviewing,engagement and satisfaction,jessica lee,employment branding and culture

A new bill is sitting with the New York Senate and State Assembly hoping to hold responsible those employers who violate wage and hour laws by hitting them where it hurts – through increased penalties. From the NY Times City Room: The legislation — introduced in the State Senate and State Assembly — would subject [...]

Tags:   talent management,hr news,hr,hcm

CBS News House Democrats' New Strategy on Health Care KCBS But Garamdendi said Democrats in Washington are re-energized after the public anger over spiraling premiums at Anthem Blue Cross here and at other large ... Massachusetts Division of Insurance Talks to Small Business Owners The Quincy Cove Reigning in Health Care Costs the Old Fashion Way Louisville Mojo (blog) Unions vow to keep pressure on Congress for health reform Workday Minnesota San Jose Mercury News - Culpeper Star Exponent all 1,296 news articles »

Tags:   health insurers,wellpoint,in1,anthem,in,east central

©2010 Google Globe and Mail Unions vow to keep pressure on Congress for health reform Workday Minnesota ... Blue Cross in California,” the AFL-CIO chief said. “But Republicans showed once again they have no intention of working to solve the health care crisis. ... The cost of doing nothing on health care San Jose Mercury News Insurer Warns Against 'Politicized' Federal Oversight New York Times (blog) Republicans and Democrats Gear Up for Thursday's Health Care Summit ABC News Politico - Denver Post - Examiner.com all 12,692 news articles »

Tags:   health insurers,bcbs

I'm a big fan of the TV show Biggest Loser. Each Tuesday night, I sit down on my couch with a soda and usually something sweet/salty/fattening and watch a bunch of fat people duke it out. (Yeah, I used the...

Tags:   television,wellness,tim sackett,benefits

Employees use many tools to get their work done. Laptops and mobile apps are helpful, and this year they may need to plug into Facebook and Twitter. With the growing popularity of these social networks, it's inevitable that they will be used to connect with customers and to provide services that are essential to keep your business running smoothly.

An article this week from CIO.com, however, finds a recent survey showing  that more than half of CIOs in the United States do not allow employees to log onto social networking sites during the workday. It's a futile effort, says IDC analyst Caroline Dangson. Attempting to block workers from social networking sites is just not in the cards.

"This concept of trying to control or block [social media usage], it is not going to work," Dangson tells CIO.com. "There's going to be a divide, with some companies that shun public social networks and are fearful of using them, and some who embrace it and take the risk."

An IDC survey of 4,710 U.S. workers in October found that 34 percent use consumer social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn for business purposes, and 9 percent use microblogging sites like Twitter for business purposes.

But there is plenty of pushback from employers, according to Robert Half Technology. A survey of 1,400 CIOs from U.S. companies with at least 100 employees found that 54 percent completely prohibit use of social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, while at work.

The verdict may still be out for your business on the future of social media at the workplace. But the evidence is already showing that it's a positive development for the business world. And employers will have to start loosening up on how and when their workers can use it during the day.

For more on

...

Tags:   benefits technology,cio,hr technology,twitter,fierece,facebook,social networking

The Talented (and Popular) MrTed Human Resource Executive Online Of course, I haven't, but Vigilis mentions Saba, Workscape , Plateau and Workday as potential partners currently in active discussions. ... and more »

Tags:   benefits technology,hr technology,benefits administration,ben admin

Events drive others until you prioritize, imposing some degree of control on their flow and on the degree to which that affects you – or, better yet, reversing the direction of that influence. In my case, a re-prioritization was called for by events of late last year, and one of the events affected by it [...]

Tags:   personal observations,talent management,hr,hcm

Innovation Strong Despite Recession: Human Resource Executive(R ... Reuters ... founder of Workday and PeopleSoft , the Human Resource Executive(R) magazine's 12th Annual HR Technology(R) Conference & Exposition makes the complete ... and more »

Tags:   west,ca4,peoplesoft

Market Wire (press release) Workday's Dave Duffield to Be Featured on Bill Kutik Radio Show Market Wire (press release) Dave is a recognized pioneer in enterprise software and human resources (HR) technology and the founder of five successful companies including PeopleSoft ...

Tags:   west,ca4,peoplesoft

I don’t know where you live and quite frankly, it’s not really top of mind for me right now. What is top of mind right now is trying to think of what I’ve done that would anger the gods enough to make it 114 degrees in Texas this August. Seriously, it’s taking every bit of [...]

Tags:   observations,hr blogs,ca,naomi bloom,ca4,webinar,workday

WASHINGTON (AP) - On this Friday before Father's Day, President Barack Obama plans to spend much of his workday promoting the importance of being a good dad. The president will visit a nonprofit cent...

Tags:   west,ak

Rally Wednesday to support janitors Workday Minnesota, MN “Normandale Lakes is the state's largest office park, and its tenants include many of the financial companies that helped create the recession, and now have gotten bailout money, like AIG, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, GMAC, UBS, TIAA CREF, ...

Tags:   tiaa

Market Wire (press release)

Workday Extends Built-In Business Intelligence Market Wire (press release) PLEASANTON, CA--(Marketwire - May 5, 2009) - Workday, Inc., the leader in enterprise-class saas-based Human Resources (HR) and Financial solutions, today detailed new additions to the built-in business intelligence capabilities included with all ...

Tags:   west,bi,ca,ca4,hr bi

Excerpt: "Pension plan sponsors and practitioners can now sign up on the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) website to receive e-mail reminders of monthly filing deadlines, in addition to other agency publications previously available by e-mail . . . . Filing deadline e-mails are sent on the third workday of each month for which the user subscribes. " (Mercer LLC)

Tags:   admin